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Common Core suits start this week

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BATON ROUGE - The first lawsuit over Common Core education standards goes to court today while students across the state are also returning to school.

Educators still do not know what tests to prepare their students for this spring, even though pay raises and job security depend upon them.

"Teachers are affected by the chaos, because they're depending upon legitimate reviews for continuation of employment, pay raises and the rest," said Steve Monaghan, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers.

Testing contracts were suspended by executive order from Gov. Bobby Jindal because of Common Core. A lawsuit filed by some parents and educators against the governor for his actions will be heard Tuesday in court.

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education also joined in on this lawsuit.

"The only thing that could come out of this positive is that people will take a pause, put emphasis back on teaching and not on assessments," Monaghan said.

Amidst the confusion on how they will be assessed, the LFT is telling its 20,000 members statewide to just continue teaching children as normal.

"We're telling them that we know who's responsible and it's not them," Monaghan said. "We're telling them the job they do is a good job and important in society. And they'll continue despite the bad politics that festers in this state."

The judge will hear arguments from Gov. Jindal's lawyer today seeking to have the suit dismissed altogether.